This disclosure relates to an information processing device and information processing method for activating optional functions of MFPs (Multifunction Peripherals) as well as to a nontemporary computer-readable recording medium for storing information processing programs.
In MFPs, mostly, such functions as one for enhancing treated-data security and an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) function are offered as optional functions.
Under such circumstances, various contrivances have been made to properly manage those optional functions.
For example, a technique disclosed in typical MFPs allows installed-software licenses to be transferred, without incurring a load on a user, simply from one to another among equipment devices which are administered in terms of software license by a license management system.
With another typical technique, even though optional programs or optional data are copied from an MFP in which those optional programs or optional data are offered to another MFP which has not been licensed for relevant optional functions, a license key which has been encoded in the server with data unique to the MFP and which has been given from the server cannot be decoded, so that the optional functions cannot be used in other non-licensed MFPs.
Conventionally, in order to validate and activate optional functions of an MFP, it has been necessary for the user to obtain license keys or the like by paying their fees and moreover for the user or serviceman to set the obtained license keys or the like one by one on the MFP. This has been troublesome, involving time and labor.